Workers opt for ethical companies

More evidence has emerged that companies with a poor public reputation will find it increasingly difficult to recruit staff.

Over 450 people who completed staffing services Select Appointment’s online survey have voted overwhelmingly to work for ethical employers. Visitors to Select’s website, www.select.co.uk were asked: "Would you work for a company that is not considered to have ethical products and services?" More than three quarters (77 per cent) of those replying said they wouldn’t.

Kay Fletcher, operations director of Select commented: “These findings are extremely interesting in showing how UK workers view potential employers. Pay and conditions are obviously essential to all workers, as is the job role itself, but now we see that a company’s ethical record is also increasingly becoming important when candidates are choosing a company to work for.”

Kay continued: “More and more we are finding that candidates are clued up about employers and many do not want to be seen to be working for a company who they and their friends may regard as ethically unsound.”

These new findings come on the heels of a December 2002 Work Foundation survey that found that ten per cent of the workforce, particularly new entrants to the labour market, are now rating corporate social responsibility issues as ‘very important’ when deciding who to work for. Less than a quarter said that they had no interest at all in a potential employer’s CSR record.